The Beginning and the End
by loudlovexx
Summary: AU: Chuck and Blair's marriage is on the rocks and Blair turns to Dan on the most important day of her year, her birthday. Flash forward to Chuck's hotel opening where Blair is struggling to keep smiling as she forces herself to remain happy in front of both Chuck and his investors. Will she be able to keep it together or turn to Dan once again?


"Can you get here soon?" Blair's voice was hushed as she pressed her cell phone closer to her ear. She looked around the room, trying to find Chuck within the crowd so she would know how long she had on the phone. Twirling the ring on her finger, she softened her voice, "Please, Dan. I don't know how much longer I can keep this smile on my face and - Chuck!" she froze in place as she pressed end on the call and faced her husband.

"Blair," he snarled, "I was looking for you." Chuck placed his hand around her wrist, tightening it as he pulled her away from the windows. "My investors were wondering where my wife went to." He lead her into the crowd, pressing his hand against her lower back and moving his lips to her ears, "Don't embarrass me, Blair."

* * *

It had happened for the first time on her birthday which was the day that Blair credited Chuck for fully stealing her heart away from Nate the first time but now held a different meaning for her relationship with her husband. Blair had been sure when she said yes to marrying him that they would grow together, but they had only grown apart. Chuck had been busy traveling from country to country building his business and Blair had been trying to set up her own business, an expansion of her mother's fashion line.

But two years after they said yes, Blair found herself alone on her birthday. Chuck had promised to be home, swore on the rings on their fingers, but he didn't make it. He blamed it on a last minute business meeting, but Blair had (on the advice of her mother) hired a private investigator to follow Chuck on the last minute business meetings that kept popping up. And now, as she sipped a glass of the wine that she had bought herself as an early birthday present, she flipped through the photo album that she had been linked to from her P.I. There were men, women and sometimes both all entangled in sheets with her husband. She felt deceived, empty and most of all, she felt in need of revenge.

* * *

"It was so nice to meet you, Mr. Hudson, and I would love to get dinner with your wife some day to discuss her new fashion line," Blair smiled, raising her glass to the man who stood across from her as she tried to subtly lean on her toes to see the door. "You can tell her to drop by my offices anytime." She finally saw the messy mop of hair that she had been waiting for, and politely excused herself from the conversation. She felt Chuck's eyes burning into the back of her head as she walked away, but Blair found that she no longer cared about her public persona if Chuck continued to not care about their private life.

"Humphrey," Blair greeted him, at least keeping her hands to herself while they were still in the ballroom. It had felt wrong when she called him, inviting him (pleading with him really) to come to Chuck's opening of his new hotel, but seeing him in his worn suit, hands in his pocket and hair that was in desperate need of a cut... she felt a surge of warmth through her body.

"Waldorf," he responded, nodding at her and shoving his hands in his pocket. Blair liked the way he didn't use her married name, and the way that he was rocking back and forth in his sneakers. "Have you met my fiancé?"

In her blindness to those around her when Dan was around, Blair had failed to take in that he hadn't walked in alone, that there was a hand on the crook of his elbow, and that the half smile that he was sporting looked rather sheepish.

Blair swallowed and cleared her throat, "I haven't. Blair Bass, and you are?"

"Tamara Hamilton," the blond who looked rather similar to Serena, took her hand from Dan's arm and extended it to Blair. Blair took the hand and shook it lightly before rubbing her hand on the fabric of her dress once she took it back. "Dan has told me a lot about you."

Blair glared at Dan who mouthed the word 'no' to her, assuring her that a lot didn't mean everything. "Can I steal your fiancé for a few seconds? I just wanted to discuss with him the casting of his book, I'm sure you know the main character was based off of me."

Tamara nodded to both and stepped away from Dan, "He's all yours. I actually spot some people I know over there." She stepped close to Dan and placed her lips on his cheek, "Come back in one piece."

Blair made a face at Tamara's back as she walked away and turned back to Dan, "Follow me, Humphrey. Just not too closely."

* * *

"What are you doing right now?" Blair breathed over the phone, side stepping the traditional conversation starters.

"Are you drunk, Waldorf?" Dan asked. He was sitting on the couch in the loft in Brooklyn, placing the lap top that he had been busy typing on just a minute before on the coffee table in front of him. "And happy birthday."

Blair smiled, lifting the glass up to her lips again. "You remembered my birthday, Humphrey, that's so touching." Her voice was tinged with sarcasm but she truly was touched. "And while I might have had a few glasses of wine, I would put myself on the tipsy spectrum rather than being fully drunk." She put the glass down and crossed her legs, "Are you busy or could you spare an hour and a half and watch Breakfast at Tiffany's over the phone? It's on Netflix."

"Is that really how you want to spend your birthday? On the phone with me watching a movie you've seen a million times?"

"Maybe not the on the phone part but I can never see my favorite movie too many times."

"Well, what do you want, Waldorf? What would make you happy on your birthday?"

Blair was taken back to the time she was sure Dan and Serena were meant to get back together when she had asked Dan the same questions. "Dan..." she started, stopping before she stooped to her husband's level of extra-marital affairs.

"Was that your answer?" he joked, rubbing his hands on his pants as he tried to stop from offering to come over without knowing what she wanted.

"Yes," she practically choked on her answer. It would be a birthday gift to herself, less an affair and more a gift from her never there husband. "I mean, do you want to come over?"

Dan coughed as he tried to pull himself together. He had never been able to get over her, unable to hold a relationship for more than a month ever since Blair had taken his heart and stomped on it when she flew off to win Chuck back. But he had forgiven her over time, mostly from the stories that he got from Jenny who had been poached from her job as an assistant designer to head designer at Blair's new company. She told him that Blair seemed unhappier as the days passed and Chuck was never around, and through Blair's unhappiness he saw a mirror of his own.

"So, what do you say?" she asked, trying to hide the insecurity in her voice.

Dan paused for one more second before answering, "I'll catch a cab and be there in a few minutes. Should I stop for anything?"

* * *

"Waldorf," Dan called after her, trying to keep up with her rushed pace. "Blair!"

It was the use of her own name that made her pause and she swung on her heel to face him. It had been almost 8 months since she had last saw him, since the last time she had even talked to him. Three birthdays, three nights with Dan, but before this night that had been all she allowed herself. "Yes, Humphrey?"

"We- I can't do this," he was stuttering as they made eye contact. "I have a fiancé, I'm getting married in a few months and this... this isn't fair to her."

Blair stared at him for a few seconds, blinking rapidly as to try to stop the tears she knew would eventually fall. "Then you can go back to the party, forget I called you... I don't know what I was thinking." She turned back around and booked it to the elevators. She hit the up button and waited for a second before she felt a hand on her back. She turned, smiling even as she spun, "Da- Chuck."

"Not who you expected," her husband snarled. "I told you not to embarrass me, Blair. You invited your lover here and then what? You're going to go upstairs to fuck him while I try and convince people you're in the bathroom for an hour?" She could almost feel the heat off his face but she could definitely feel the fingers tighten around her wrist again. "Go upstairs, collect yourself and then come back down here and act like you're supposed to."

"Let go of me, Chuck," she said, trying to tug her wrist from his grip. "And don't talk to me about lovers." The elevator doors opened behind her and she stepped into them only to be followed be Chuck, who was then followed by Dan. Blair let out a heavy sigh, her night was only bound to get messier from here.

"Why don't you go back to your party, Chuck," Dan said, his voice steady but Blair could see his hands balling into protective fists at his side.

Chuck stepped towards Dan, who moved one of his hands to the open button on the elevator so that the three of them were exposed to the eyes of the party goers, almost all who had turned their attention to the commotion at the elevators. "Why don't you go back to Brooklyn, Humphrey, and let me and my wife deal with our issues without you trying to act like a hero."

"The only one trying to act like anything, Chuck, is your pathetic act to look like a good husband in front of your investors," Dan's voice was slightly raised. "No one is fooled by the way you tug around Blair like she is an art exhibit on display."

Blair stepped in between them as she saw Chuck almost lunge at Dan. She placed a hand on Chuck's chest as she pushed him towards the open doors. "Just leave, Chuck. I want you to let me go and I want you to sign the divorce papers I served you with a month a go."

Chuck looked a little wounded over the mention of the papers, but Blair was certain it was only because it had been in front of Dan and any of the guests close enough to the elevators to hear what she said. He stepped out of the elevator, made a little bow to the both of them and as the doors closed, Blair could hear him on the other side, "Fuck you, Blair. Enjoy living in the projects of Brooklyn."

She turned to Dan, tears starting to fall from her eyes. He stepped towards her, kissing her on the top of the head as he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. "I don't live in the projects," he said as the elevator started to rise and he was happy to hear a small laugh come from Blair.

* * *

Blair heard the buzz of the door and practically ran to open it. Her hair fell on loose waves around her shoulders and she brushed them back from her face as she opened the door. "Humphrey," she said on the exhale of her deep breath.

Dan dropped the bag of groceries on the floor, the bag that contained Blair's favorite kind of cheese, the French bread from her favorite bakery, and the chocolate from the candy store down the street. His hands instinctively cupped Blair's face and as Blair's fingers entangled themselves in his hair, he leaned into the last girl he had loved and kissed her, kicking the door shut behind them.

Blair's back arched as she walked backwards, bringing Dan with her as she fell back on the couch and Dan falling on top of her. Her fingers brushed the buttons of Dan's lumberjack chic plaid shirt and started undoing them. Her breath was shallow as Dan's lips moved from her lips to her neck. Her legs wrapped themselves around his waist, and tightened them, pressing Dan against her. It had been longer than she wanted to admit since her and Chuck had been in any kind of situation similar to this one.

"Chuck?" Dan asked, pulling slightly away from her. His fingers brushed her hair away from her eyes.

She shrugged, still working her way down his shirt and undoing the buttons. "Somewhere in Asia, with countless other women just like me."

"No one's like you, Waldorf." Dan watched as a genuine smile took it's home on Blair's face. "And if Chuck is really screwing other women-"

"And men," she interrupted.

"If he's messing up that badly, he doesn't deserve you."

"And who does deserve me?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.

Dan smirked, "Probably not me either but I can try, at least for tonight."

"Humphrey?"

"Yes?"

"Stop talking."

Dan shook his head, moving his head closer to Blair's as he rubbed her nose against hers. "Only because it's your birthday."

Blair smiled, straining her neck up so she could connect her lips with his. He sat up, pulling her with him and stood from the couch. His hands rested on her thighs as he struggled to walk down the hallway to the bedroom, struggling only because he was distracted by Blair's lips on his neck and the task of unzipping her impractical dress for an occasion such as this. But once he found the bedroom, he laid her on the bed and tugged off the black tights from her legs.

* * *

Dan sat on the armchair of the overly decorated hotel room, obviously done in Chuck's style rather than Blairs, rubbing Blair's back. She was sitting on his lap, her arms wrapped around his neck as she silently cried onto his shoulder. "It's going to be okay," he tried to soothe her. His phone had been beeping periodically for the last ten minutes and he was sure it was Tamara wondering where he had gone. She knew his and Blair's history, but not their recent history and he had wanted to keep it that way.

"I don't even know why I'm upset," she pulled away and he wiped a tear away from her cheek. "I'm the one who served him. I shouldn't have even come tonight but he begged, said his investors loved that he was so put together with a wife and a company. I've been doing my best to avoid him."

"You don't have to explain to me, Blair," he said softly, still rubbing his knuckles against her back.

Blair sniffled, pressing her cheek against his shoulder. His phone beeped again, "Do you want to get that?" she asked, moving to get off of his lap. Instead, he pulled her closer and shook his head. "Are you going to tell me about her?"

"I'd rather not," he replied honestly. "I met her shortly after our last... after your last birthday."

Blair and him had a silent agreement ever since their first time, she would call on her birthday and he would come over. But between that, there was little conversation between the two of them and little knowledge came to Blair about Dan. She wasn't friends with Serena anymore, growing apart when she had moved to California, and Nate knew better than to mention Dan to her, having almost a sixth sense over when Blair became uncomfortable at even the mention of Dan's name.

"I didn't want to tell you, I begged Nate not to say anything and the engagement is recent."

"Are you happy with her?" she asked, her eyes widening.

He shrugged, "I don't know. She kind of pressured the engagement, even bought the ring herself. To be fair, I don't even recall technically asking her but she has been wearing the ring for a few days. We've been on and off since we met and... I don't know. I guess I don't like being alone and those twelve months waiting for your call-"

"Wasn't fair, I know."

"I was going to say torture." Blair frowned. "I just mean, I loved you Blair. Love you still, so hearing whispers of you and Chuck being together and still married... and being kicked out of your apartment because Chuck came back early... I was just trying to quit this."

"I'm sorry, Dan."

Dan nuzzled his face into her neck, slipping tiny kisses up to her chin. "It doesn't matter, Blair. I was foolish to think I could replace you and be happy."

"So you're not happy?"

"Not as happy as you make me."

* * *

Blair pulled the sheet up to her chin as Dan pulled on his boxers, standing from the bed. "Where are you going?"

"The cheese might be bad, but the bread and chocolate is just asking to be ate."

"Did you get the bread from-"

"The bakery down the street, of course."

Blair smiled, "I love you, Dan Humphrey."

Dan turned around, leaned down and kissed her. "I love you, Blair Waldorf and... happy birthday."

Blair leaned back in the bed, running her fingers over the design on the comforter. It had been a year and four months since Chuck's party and she had been granted a divorce as well as the apartment they had once shared, the apartment that she had made home while Chuck had been galavanting around the world. Dan had, slowly, broken it off with Tamara who had turned out to be almost as crazy as Georgina and on Blair's last birthday, Dan had shown up at the apartment with flowers and a blu-ray version of Breakfast at Tiffany's.

"Blair, do you want wine?" he called from the kitchen, and Blair shouted back that she didn't, pressing her hands against her stomach. She hadn't told Dan yet, didn't want him to feel pressure from the relationship while he was busy writing his newest book, a memoir.

Stepping back into the room with a platter of food for Blair, he crawled back into bed. "No drinks on your birthday?" he asked, kissing her cheek as he pressed play on the remote and Breakfast at Tiffany's started to play for the third time that day.

"I'm pregnant," she turned to him, watching as he smiled broadly. "You're happy?"

Dan nodded, almost unable to speak as he reached into the drawer next to him. "So this is a minute too late?" he asked, holding up a ring. "Marry me, Waldorf?"


End file.
